


chasing the sun

by ohmygodwhy



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Firefly Verse, Canon-Typical Violence, Ensemble Cast, F/M, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-09
Updated: 2015-10-18
Packaged: 2018-04-03 15:13:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4105509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmygodwhy/pseuds/ohmygodwhy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There were introductions, hands shaken, smiles given, all that. Percy was in the middle of asking what the two of them did for a living when there was a knock on the inside of the door. They glanced over to see a guy standing in the entrance.</p>
<p>“Is this… is this ship taking passengers?” he asked.</p>
<p>He was a small guy- maybe even shorter than Leo, and probably a year or two younger- skinny, with dark hair and dark eyes and a rumpled white shirt underneath a dark coat- he was staring to sense a pattern. He had a sloppy air to him, like maybe he hadn’t slept in a week or so. He had a bag slung over his shoulder and… a crate? Or something. A large metal container thing with wheels. Huh.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. and we're slipping off the course that we prepared

**Author's Note:**

> aka the heat of the moment au no one asked for
> 
> ok so i started and finished the show firefly in like 2 days?? 14 episodes long, i'd been meaning to watch it for a while now and it was really good??? plus it had spaceships and really good dialogue, which is automatically a win.
> 
> i have a lot of kinks to work out with this and i'm not quite sure where i'm going with it, but i haven't been this excited about an au in a while, so i'm working it out as i go. there's gonna be a lot of alternating povs, but i'll try to stick mostly to jason and nico... which i did not do for the first chapter whoops?? but hey, i gotta set it all up first right?
> 
> not sure exactly when i'll be updating, but i'll try to keep it reasonable???

 

 

The problem with giant spaceships is they tend to cost a lot of money.

The problem with money is you have to work for it.

The problem with a spaceship being your main source of money is that once you’re out of money, your spaceship won’t move, you won’t be able to work, and basically, it’s one big loop of bad luck.

“What’d you mean ‘ _no deal’_?” Percy’s voice echoed throughout the room. One of the bodyguards in the corner jumped a little, he noticed smugly.

“Exactly what I said. This cargo is government stamped.”

 _“This cargo,”_ he strained “Is exactly what you asked for.”

Octavian smiled, leaning back in his chair. The room was rather small. Stuffy. A dirty rug covered the floor, the walls were strung with curtains and decorations and other unfairly expensive items. A large desk sat in the middle, books and trinkets and poorly concealed bags of money- _their_ money, the money they were _promised_ \- piled high, along with Octavian’s feet, the condescending jerk. His watery eyes and undercooked pasta colored hair fit in nicely.

“If you had gotten here a few hours earlier, it might’ve been worth it. But see,” he pulled up a screen, flipping it so they could see it, “there was a bulletin sent out: an unregistered firefly seen raiding a ship.”

“There are tons of those. It won’t be traced back to you.”

Octavian shrugged. “Maybe not, but what if it is?”

“Not my problem. We got you what you asked for. That was the deal.”

“The deal, as I previously mentioned, is off.”

Percy stood up straight, his hand drifting not so inconspicuously to the gun handle sticking out of his belt, “Not until you pay up,”

“I don’t think you’re in the position to make threats, _Captain.”_ Octavian said slowly, mouth curling up into a sneer, “And I don’t like your attitude. Now I suggest you leave now, before I tell the feds I found their firefly.”

 _“My_ firefly.”

“Tell it to someone who cares,” The bastard smiled again. Percy had a very strong urge to punch it off his face, and probably would have if he didn’t feel Annabeth’s hand on his shoulder.

Instead, he spun around, glaring at the stupid walls and the stupid men standing by the doorway.

“Asshole.” He grumbled over his shoulder. He could practically feel said asshole’s smug grin.

“Best of luck to you, Captain.”

 

“Great.” He grumbled once they were out on the street, not sounding all too great, “What now?”

“I told you not to deal with that guy,” Annabeth sighed, crossing her arms.

“And you were right,” Percy agreed, “But that doesn’t help us now, does it.”

“Not particularly, no,”

The pair started walking, heading in the direction of the town square. The planet Persephone had grown a lot over the years. Mainly a trading planet, a place of business for merchants and backstabbing black market dealers alike, it was dangerous. Greek or Roman, Allied or Independent, if you didn’t watch your back, you might not have anything to be watchful of by the end of the day. Definitely not a planet you wanted to be stranded on. And with the money they had left, they very well could be.

“We are taking on passengers, right?” Annabeth asked, “The money they pay could last us long enough to find another job.”

“Supposing anyone actually wants a ride,”

Annabeth shrugged, “Leo’s looking. I’m pretty sure he’ll be able to reel in at least two or three,”

Percy had to agree. Their ship’s mechanic had a way with words- meaning he’d either annoy them into coming or genuinely make a friend. He’d won Percy over in a matter of minutes- and then almost gotten himself killed a few minutes later when he accidentally set the engine on fire. And then won him back over when he put it out and actually fixed the damn thing.

Fixing the engine had pretty much automatically earned him the job. He managed to turn the tiny ship into a masterpiece- the Argo II, Leo had named it, and honestly, the name really fit. It looked like it could ride into battle against all sorts of Greek mythological monsters if it wanted to. Percy loved it. It gave him a sense of freedom he hadn’t felt since before the war. And freedom was something he needed.

He was free spirit at heart, his mom had often joked. He’d fought as a commander in the war against the allies- against the ‘romans’ as they were often called, set on colonizing and ruling as many planets as they could, and willing to take out anyone who opposed them. Annabeth had fought along side him, just as set on freedom and just as willing to fight for it. That’s where they’d met actually. A lot of bonding takes place in the heat of battle, and they’d been together ever since- from war buddies to married war buddies.

“Might as well look around for a bit,” Percy said, glancing about. The square was a big bundle of booths and scary guys and people from every planet he could think of. “I haven’t been _here_ in a while.”

 

 

Leo, on the other hand, was having a blast.

He was sprawled out on a chair he had taken from the kitchens in front of his ship (he only called it ‘ _his_ ’ in his head or when Percy and Annabeth weren’t around), watching the crowds go by. So far, he’d offered a ride to and gotten turned down by a very nice (looking) blonde and a man with a very fake (looking) mustache. 

But he was determined. And pretty excited, to be honest. He’d only been to Persephone a few times, and they hardly ever took on passengers. They were desperate. He was an expert on dealing with desperate situations. That one time he set the engine on fire. That one time a flock of carnivorous birds had gotten into the ship. That one time the window in the hull gave out an almost sucked them all into the deep dark recesses of space. Yep, an expert.

He’d spent the better part of an hour scouring the crowd when he caught sight of a person he _knew_ he could convince.

“You’re not looking at the destinations,” he called.

The person stopped: a tall blond guy, dressed in a dark brown coat over a light purple shirt, carrying a small suitcase. Paired with pale blue eyes, and something that looked like a dot on his upper lip- the guy was built like a fighter, but looked like all he was ready to fight about was the book in his hand.

“Excuse me?” he asked- politely. He was obviously out of place; no one was _polite_ here.

“You’re looking at the ships, not where they’re going.” Leo hopped out of his chair, shoving one hand in his pocket and holding the other one out. “The name’s Leo,”

“Jason,” said Jason, shaking his hand briefly. He had a strong grip. And the thing on his upper lips wasn’t a dot, Leo noted, it was a scar.

“So how come you don’t care where you’re going?” he continued.

Jason thought for a moment, “Because how you get there’s the worthier part.”

 _“Worthy,_ huh?” Leo grinned. “Then you’re definitely coming with us.”

Jason raised his eyebrows, amused. “Am I?”

“Yep,” Leo nodded, taking a step back and gesturing grandly at the ship, “No ship is _worthier_ than the Argo II.”

“Is that so?”

Leo nodded again. “And, best of all, I’m not sure where we’re going next either. But don’t just take my word for it,” his voice dropped in bad imitation of those infomercial adds they played in really rich cities that actually had the money for TVs, “Begin your risk free trial today,”

To his relief, Jason actually cracked a smile. “Convincing,” he admitted. He glanced up, looking over the Argo II carefully; Leo had to respect how seriously he took the whole thing. “I think I just might,” he said finally.

“Really?” he probably sounded way too relieved, but hey, they were desperate, right?

"Yeah,” Jason smiled.

 

Thirty or so minutes later found Leo finishing up a quick tour of the ship. He’d successfully captured- convinced- two people to ride with them. The first was Jason, of course. The second was a tan guy with superman styled dark hair and teeth white enough to blind someone. Dylan, or something. He looked like he was waiting for some girls to hit on and dropped his bags twice on the way in alone. Leo didn’t think much of him.

“Leo!”

They’d made it back to the main entrance when Percy and Annabeth finally showed up. Empty handed, he noticed. He had a feeling it would turn out like this- Annabeth hadn’t trusted that Octavian guy, which meant that he _definitely_ couldn’t be trusted. Annabeth knew pretty much everything. Honestly, he was more scared of pissing _her_ off than he was Percy.

“Captain,” he responded with a mock salute. “How much did we make?” he asked, even though he already knew the answer.

“Nothing,” Annabeth said, “I was right. He backed out.”

“Well,” Leo grinned, “I did _my_ job. Behold,” he stepped to the side, “our brand new passengers,”

There were introductions, hands shaken, smiles given, all that. Percy was in the middle of asking what the two of them did for a living when there was a knock on the inside of the door. They glanced over to see a guy standing in the entrance.

“Is this… is this ship taking passengers?” he asked.

He was a small guy- maybe even shorter than Leo, and probably a year or two younger- skinny, with dark hair and dark eyes and a rumpled white shirt underneath a dark coat- he was staring to sense a pattern. He had a sloppy air to him, like maybe he hadn’t slept in a week or so. He had a bag slung over his shoulder and… a crate? Or something. A large metal container thing with wheels. Huh.

“Uh…” Leo responded intelligently.

“Yes it is,” Percy covered for him. “The Argo II, at your service…” he trailed off, staring at the kid.

Who was staring right back, dark eyes wide. There were a few moments of stunned silence, before “ _Percy?”_

Percy blinked- once, twice. Then recognition passed across his face and his eyes shot open too.

“ _Nico?”_

The kid- Nico, apparently- seemed to be struggling with his words. “This is _your_ ship?”

“Yeah it’s… yeah.” Percy seemed to be having the same problem. “Dude, you look like hell,” he said bluntly.

And frankly, Leo couldn’t disagree. The whole ‘maybe hasn’t slept in a week or two thing’. He looked like he might drop where he stood any second.

“Thanks,” he said dryly.

“What he _means,”_ Annabeth cut in, “is you seem to need a proper meal and a good night’s rest,”

Nico shifted on his feet, glancing away from her, “Annabeth,” he greeted.

She smiled. “It’s been a long time, Nico,”

He nodded. “It’s ‘Doctor’ now, actually,”

“What?” Percy asked.

“Doctor.”

“Doctor…? _Doctor!_ _Oh!”_ he exclaimed, then paused, “ _You?”_

“Yeah, _me.”_ Nico scoffed, “Is it really that surprising?”

“I guess not, I just… didn’t expect it. Certainly didn’t expect to see you _here,_ of all places.” Percy’s grin was back, “What are you doing on Persephone?”

The kid tensed slightly at that. “I could ask you the same thing,”

“Yeah, well I asked first.”

He sighed, shrugging his shoulders- trying a bit too hard to be casual. “Stepmother.”

“She _lives_ on Persephone?” Leo asked.

“She _trades_ on Persephone.” Nico responded, glancing over, “Which is also, coincidentally, her name.”

“Your stepmom is named _Persephone.”_

He nodded vaguely, “She gets a kick out of it,”

“I bet,”

“Where are you headed then?” Percy asked, taking control of the conversation again.

Nico bit his lip, shrugging for the second time. “Somewhere not here?”

“Look at that, so are we,”

“Yeah, that’s kinda why I’m here.”

Percy seemed surprised for a moment, “So you’re staying then?”

The kid tensed up again, lips twisting into a scowl, “Do you not want me to?”

“No, no!” Percy said hurriedly, “I just wasn’t sure if you’d want to- y’know- be around me after… everything-“

“Can we not have this conversation right now?” Nico said quickly, eyes darting to the other people in the room. They- apart from Annabeth- seemed just as confused, and slightly curious, as Leo was, “I told you, I don’t blame you anymore. If you don’t want me on your ship, just say so,”

“That’s not what I’m saying! We’d be happy to have you,”

 _“Really?”_ he said flatly, obviously unconvinced.

“Really. You, and whatever’s inside that giant crate thingy,”

Leo could practically feel the kid’s shoulders drawing up tightly- being on edge all the time must hurt his muscles, “That’s none of your business,” he glared.

“Okay, okay. Just… welcome aboard, Nico.” Percy walked forward, extending his hand.

Nico looked at it uncertainly, before taking it, “Doctor,” he corrected.

Percy smiled. “Whatever you say.”

 

 


	2. trouble is a friend of mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Things were actually going pretty smoothly. So of course, Percy should’ve known something would go wrong."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wooo lotsa dialogue 
> 
> i made frank the pilot bc i honestly didn't know what else to do with him?? it makes sense- leo could maybe be the pilot and the mechanic, but it would be almost impossible, hence pilot frank
> 
> also i dont know what half the parts of the ship are really called

 

 

“So what exactly is this ship for?”

The seven of them were up in the mess hall in the living quarters of the ship. It was a pretty spacious area; a large enough table (drilled into the floor, Jason noticed curiously) in the center of the main room, a kitchen with a counter and some bar stools- there was even a game room, he was surprised to see. Various hallways connected to various rooms, some of them with a bed built into the wall, some for storage, some of them locked, and an infirmary with thick glass windows cutting it off from the rest of the room- safety protocol, in case of a virus or contagious sickness. Jason didn’t really like the sound of that, but Percy insisted that it hadn’t happened yet.

Jason was on his second tour. This one was much more informative, and full of less endless chatter. Not to say he didn’t like Leo- the kid was just very… hyperactive. They’d taken off about thirty minutes prior. He’d never been in a ship quite like this one before.

Captain Jackson, as he’d been introduced, glanced over at Dylan with apprehension. “What d’ you mean?”

Dylan shrugged with an air of indifference that put Jason on edge. He didn’t really like Dylan. He wasn’t usually one to judge someone without knowing them, but the little bit of time he’d spent with the guy discouraged him from even wanting to try to.

“What’s it made for? What do you guys all do?”

Percy shrugged right back, mimicking Dylan’s stance and crossed arms; Dylan scowled.

“Transport, mostly.” Percy said, “It’s a cargo ship. We take jobs, do them, deliver stuff, get paid. It’s a pretty straightforward practice.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” Dylan mumbled under his breath- Jason was near enough to catch it, and if the Captain heard it he made no remark- but flashed his too-bright smile nonetheless. “It’s a nice ship,”

“Isn’t it though? Fixed it up myself.” Leo said proudly, “Everything you see here is one of my beautiful creations,”

“You built it all yourself?” this voice was quiet, but not necessarily timid. He glanced over to a corner near the arched entrance to the game room, where the kid- Nico _di Angelo_ (they’d introduced themselves briefly, now that they were all in one place; Nico’s had been the briefest- his handshake lasted about a second and his hands were very cold) was standing, leaning against the wall.

Maybe it was his rough appearance, or his almost unnoticeable presence, or the eyes that seemed to pick apart his expression when he made eye contact, but Jason got the idea he wasn’t too keen on being here. He’d barely said a word the whole tour, mainly nodded or raised his eyebrows. Jason was surprised, but he seemed genuinely curious.

Leo grinned. “Yep. Every part of it. Except the basic frame and all- it was barely qualified to be called a ship before I came along.”

“And you could barely fly it before I did.” Frank- a tall Asian guy, maybe a few years younger than Jason- added.

He’d only just met him- he was the ship’s ‘sometimes’ pilot, he’d found out. Leo claimed _he_ did most of the flying, which Jason thought shouldn’t be possible if he had to worry about the mechanical part of everything, but according to everyone else, he rarely did. Frank was the ‘sometimes’ pilot only by nickname, as he did most of the flying. He’d gathered with the rest of them for the second tour, and seemed like a pretty nice guy- definitely not as intimidating as he first came off as.

“ _Please,_ you could barely fly it the first few days,” Leo responded, not sounding all too offended though.

Frank just rolled his eyes.

“Alright,” Annabeth said, stepping into the center of the room with her hands on her hips, “I suppose we should set some ground rules.”

Percy nodded in agreement. “First of all, none of you have really made any specific requests on where you want to go, so we’ll be stopping every little while. Supplies, repairs, jobs, that sort of thing, so you’re free to get off anytime you want, or ask to go anywhere in particular- within reason.” He said.

“You’ve all paid already,” Annabeth continued, “But there _will_ be additional fees the longer you travel with us.”

“You’re free to move about the ship as you please,” Percy said, glancing from person to person, “But for the most part, you’ll stay here in the living quarters and the rooms surrounding it, alright?” It was more of a statement than a question, but he, Dylan and Nico nodded anyways.

“All your personal luggage is still down in the cargo bay, but we’ll have Coach Hedge bring it all up soon. Though how he’s gonna get that huge crate thing up here it a mystery.” Annabeth added, looking at Nico with vague amusement.

They hadn’t met Coach Hedge yet. Jason wondered why they’d have a coach on board. Maybe he was one of those trainer guys he’d heard about, the ones that taught you how to fix things or fight or steal stuff- there were a lot of professions out there.

Nico shifted uncomfortably under her stare.

“The crew cabins are on the lower level, but you can access them freely- with permission of course, and there’s a control pad on the wall next to the door that you can sound the alarm with if anything up here goes wrong.”

“It also lets you control the temperature in here, the lighting- in can even bust out a disco ball if you want,” Leo added proudly.

“Nice,” Jason said appreciatively

“Oh, and there’s no going into the pilot’s hull, period.” Percy said.

“Or poking around, going down into the engine room, accessing the pods, trying to open locked doors,” Annabeth added.

“They’re locked for a reason.” Percy finished.

Jason nodded. It was almost scary how easily they finished each other’s sentences. He wondered how long they’d known each other.

“Yes, _sir.”_ Dylan mumbled, obviously annoyed with the underlying threat in their tones.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. Dylan put up his hands in mock surrender.

“Alright, alright. No locked doors.”

“Glad we understand each other,” She said finally.

“So, when can we get our stuff?” Dylan asked. But before anyone could answer, the doors flew open and a short man with a scruffy beard and a very sunburned nose walked in. Probably Coach Hedge, he thought. 

“Hey cupcakes,” his voice was rough, “the ambassador’s here.”

The four crew members’ faces lit up.

“About time,” Leo said excitedly, “We haven’t seen her in forever,”

Annabeth glanced back at them, a fondness in her voice, “Time to meet our latest crew member.”

 

Their ‘latest crew member’ had apparently arrived in one of the ship’s pods; Jason couldn’t help be a little excited as they went down to meet her- Leo actually ran ahead of them, the biggest grin on his face Jason had seen so far.

“Do I know her?” he heard Nico ask a few feet behind him.

“Don’t think so,” he heard Percy reply, “Not unless you’ve been to any fancy parties or rich parts of town. Though I bet you’ve been all over the place, Mr. fancy _doctor.”_ He teased.

There was no reply; Jason guessed Nico was scowling again.

Right as they reached what he assumed was the place the pods were, he heard Leo talking animatedly. Percy stepped ahead of them, pressing a button that automatically slid the doors open, and they walked into a _huge_ room- it was more of a… chamber, really. A really big, metal chamber, lined with small pods along the wall, small enough for the room to hold three of them, and large enough to fit five people at least, and probably a bed too if you wanted to. There were lines on the floor, indicating a trap door, probably to let the pods in and out. It was pretty cool, if he was being honest. Dylan was trying to look nonchalant about it, but he could tell he was pretty impressed too.

Leo turned to them with a beckoning wave; the girl turned too. Jason’s heart skipped a beat.

She was a bit taller than Leo, dressed in a long, dark red dress that complimented her figure and hung gracefully, bunching on the floor at her feet. She had chocolate brown hair that fell to her shoulders, part of it done up, with small braids running through it. Her lips were a dark red, but other than that, she wore no make-up. _Beautiful_ was the best word to describe her, he decided.

“Ambassador,” Percy walked forward, hand up in a brief greeting, “How’s business?”

“None of yours.” She replied with a winning smile.

“Piper!” Annabeth greeted, running up and giving her a brief hug. Piper’s smile softened into something much more genuine.

“Hey, Annabeth. It’s been a while, huh?”

Annabeth smiled back. “Too long. I was starting to wonder if you were ever coming back.”

Piper frowned, but her eyes were still smiling, “And move in with one of my clients? I’d at least return the pod first.”

Her gaze shifted from Annabeth to the rest of them. Her eyebrows went up in surprise. “Right, Leo told me you were taking on passengers. You haven’t done that in forever.”

Jason took that as his cue. He stepped up, extending his hand. Piper took it, her smile friendly.

“It’s nice to meet you, miss ambassador,” he said, smiling back and bowing slightly, “I’m…” he stopped when he heard Percy laugh. Piper glared at the captain, looking pretty embarrassed.

Jason raised his eyebrows, “I’m… missing something, aren’t I?”

“That’s just her nickname,” Percy explained, an amused grin on his face, “She’s a Companion.”

Jason paused. Piper withdrew her hand, her smile turning nervous. Companions, as he’d heard, were either liked immensely or despised. They were people, women mostly, who were hired for, well, _companionship._ They kept their clients company, in various ways- sometimes long term, sometimes only once. They had varied reputations; he could understand her nervousness, but he’d learned never to judge based on a person’s job or background- he himself was a testament to that.

He nodded, smiling in way that he hoped let her know she didn’t have to be nervous.

“Then, nice to meet you _Piper,_ if I may call you that.”

Her shoulders lost their tension, and her relaxed smile was back. “You may.”

 

 -:-

 

Things were actually going pretty smoothly.

Jason and Piper hit it off immediately, talking and laughing like old friends, Leo jumping into the conversation here and there. Dylan tried to hit on her a few times- she gave him a smile that rivaled his and kindly told him he had a better chance of winning the waste drainage tank over.

Dinner started without a hitch- though if the Coach’s food counted as a hitch, he wasn’t sure. Percy vaguely wished it were Frank’s night instead; the guy was a surprisingly good cook. Leo said as much, Coach tried to hit him, Annabeth calmed him down, Nio hung back at the far edge of table. Everything was going surprisingly well.

So of course, Percy should’ve known _something_ would go wrong.

Halfway into the meal, the alarm sounded. Not the ‘someone either broke in or there are more carnivorous birds on the ship,’ alarm, but the ‘incoming transmission from an unknown person that probably doesn’t like us’ alarm. He stood up quickly, glancing at Annabeth. The two of them, and Frank, hurried out of the room, rushing to the pilot’s hull in record time.

One of the screens was in fact lit up, flashing with the logo of the- Percy groaned- Allied forces, the letters SPQR in a bold purple font.

“But we didn’t _do_ anything.” He whined.

Frank sighed, accepting the call anyways. The screen flickered, and the face of a not so friendly looking officer came into focus.

“Captain Jackson?” the officer asked, “Of the Argo II, correct?”

Percy stepped forward, “Right here. What can we do for you today, sir?”

The officer frowned. “There were reports of an unregistered firefly, seen raiding a ship nearby.” He said, cutting right to the point, “Your ship matches the description. We also have sources saying you specifically _are_ the ones in question. They also say you’re carrying illegal cargo- and possibly criminals on the run.”

Percy inhaled sharply. No way. None of the people they took on seemed like any sort of criminal to him. Nico especially- he _knew_ the kid; sure, he looked kinda shady now that he was older, but he was _not_ a criminal.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re taking about.” He replied calmly. “No illegal cargo- no cargo at all, actually. And there are no criminals on board.”

 _Except maybe us,_ he thought. Their job wasn’t the most honest one out there.

“Maybe so.” The officer replied, “But we’d like to check your ship anyways.”

Percy opened his mouth, but the officer cut him off.

“We will not hesitate to arrest you all if you resist.” Percy knew they’d probably arrest them anyways, but whatever. “Stop your ship immediately.” And with that, the call died and the screen went black.

Percy turned away sharply. “How the _hell_ did they get our coordinates?”

Annabeth’s eyebrows furrowed; her expression grew serious. “We have a mole on board.”

“Dammit,” Percy breathed, already halfway down the stairs, “Do not let _anyone_ move,”

Luck was not on their side; by the time they burst into the dining hall, Dylan and Nico were no where to be seen, Coach Hedge was off yelling angrily at something, and Jason was sitting nervously in his seat, standing up when they came in.

“ _Dammit,”_ he muttered again. “Where did they-?”

“No idea.” Jason said.

Percy huffed in frustration. “We have a mole. There’s an Ally ship headed our way.” He turned to Annabeth, “Check the pods. Leo, you check the engine room. I’ll check the cargo bay.”

“I’ll come with you,” Jason offered. Percy nodded- he was pretty sure Jason wasn’t the mole, but he felt better keeping an eye on him anyways.

The two of them hurried down. Their footsteps echoed loudly on the metal floor. There was a mole. There was a goddamn mole and Percy could kick himself. He should’ve questioned them further, should’ve assessed them all better, but he hadn’t wanted to scare away what would be their only source of money until they found another job. They didn’t have any cargo on board, he had told the truth about that. But a criminal? He honestly wasn’t sure- it was probably an excuse to hold more charges against them. He didn’t exactly have the best history with the Allies.

He’d fought on the Independents’ side back in the war. When they were defeated, he’d switched professions- not really the most respected one in the world. He’d had a few run-ins with the Allies, none of them very friendly. It wasn’t his fault really- he didn’t like them and they didn’t like him.

He practically flew down the stairs to the cargo bay, Jason close behind him. He saw a figure, a person searching through the luggage, running his hand along the big crate thing. Percy ground to a stop, anger exploding in his chest as he marched forward.

“Nico!” he yelled, “Again? You’re selling me out _again?”_

Nico’s head jerked up, confusion and a bit of hurt flashing across his face for a moment. “What the _hell_ are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, you little-“

He was cut off by a sharp, “Percy!” and his head shot in the direction Nico was looking.

His face fell in disbelief.

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me.” He mumbled, because there stood _Dylan,_ in all his dark haired, white-toothed glory, with a gun in his hand pointed too close to him for comfort.

“Put your hands up.” He said, his stern tone very different from the aloof jerk he’d been a little while ago.

“Come on, man,” Percy complained, lifting his hands in surrender nonetheless.

“Up,” the guy repeated, and Percy realized he was talking to _Nico-_ who was glaring daggers and refusing to do as he was told.

“Put your hands up and step away from the… box… thing.” Dylan faltered for a minute at the end because really, no one knew what to call it at this point, “Run, and I’ll shoot.”

“Wait… what?” Percy glanced sidelong at the boy next to him, “Nico, what does this guy…?”

Dylan cut in, “I am a federal officer. This kid’s wanted by the Allied forces for the theft of very valuable-“

“Say ‘ _property’_ ,” Nico warned, “And I’ll knock your shiny little teeth out.”

“A very valuable _asset,”_ Dylan finished.

“Wait, you stole from the _government?”_ Percy hissed, and it took a large part of his self-control not to grab Nico’s shoulders and try to shake some sense into his little fluffy head, “And you brought whatever it is onto my _ship?”_

“Never _theirs_ to begin with,” Nico shot back, just as forcefully, “And you’re one to talk, Mr. ‘I travel the galaxy with illegal contraband’.”

He was about to answer, some retort about how illegal contraband was none of his business and he couldn’t prove it was illegal anyway and to stop saying things like that in front of a fed ready on his lips before:

“Percy?” he heard Frank’s voice echoing through the chamber, along with multiple pairs of footsteps, “What’s going on? We couldn’t find… oh.” Frank trailed off, taking in the situation with a sort of confused calmness. Backtrack half a year and the guy would’ve been starting to freak out right about now, but months on the job had done him well.

 _“He’s_ the mole?” Leo asked, coming up behind the pilot with the others trailing quickly behind him; he shrugged, “Makes sense, I guess.”

Dylan looked over at him, eyebrows raised, “What’s that supposed to mean.”

“You’re slimy and untrustworthy,” Leo responded with a smile.

Dylan scowled, but didn’t move his gun from where it was steadily pointed. Which was, unfortunately, directly at Nico’s chest. Which brought Percy back to the problem at hand.

“Listen,” Jason said carefully, stepping closer towards the three of them, “Put that thing down, and let’s talk this through,”

Nico snorted. “Yeah, you’re _definitely_ not from around here.”

Percy ignored him, instead jumping on board with the blond. “Whatever it is Nico did-“

“Wait, what did Nico do?” Annabeth cut in.

“Kinda what I’m trying to figure out for sure,”

“So Doctor ‘doom and gloom’ is the one they’re after?” Leo asked, sounding far too amused for Percy’s liking.

 _“What_ did you just call me?” Nico glared.

“What did Nico do?” Annabeth repeated.

“You let a wanted criminal on board?” Piper jumped into the conversation.

“I didn’t _know_ he was a criminal.” Percy insisted.

“Do we know for sure that he _is?”_ Jason asked, though he sounded uncertain.

“He has a fed after him. I think that answers itself.” Leo pointed out.

“A fed that kind of has a gun pointed in my general direction, if you hadn’t noticed,” Percy said.

“You could always just ask the criminal,” Nico mumbled.

“Will you all shut up and let me do my job?” Dylan’s voice cut through their conversation and they all fell silent, turning to look at him.

“Turn him over to me quietly,” he started, voice professionally flat, “And you can all just walk away.”

Nico looked panicked, and a bit resilient, like he was ready to fight the guy if he had to and simultaneously knew he was done for. He glanced over at Percy, almost desperately.

“What did he take that’s so important, anyway?” Percy said finally, “Can’t be money; you wouldn’t come all this way.”

“Stop stalling.”

“Really, though, I wanna know.”

“Open the damn thing then,” Leo suggested.

“No.” Nico said immediately.

“Hey man, this is your life here. If we’re gonna take a risk for you, we need to know what for,” Percy said, looking steadily at Dylan in a silent challenge- _we’ll play along with you if you play along with us_ \- while Annabeth came up behind him. They’d done this countless times before, honestly. A moment later, the guy was on the floor-hopefully just unconscious- and his gun was in her hand. Leo trotted towards the box in mention.

Fear slid across Nico’s face. _“_ Don’t!”

He started forward, but Percy stopped him with a hand on his shoulder- not threatening, exactly, but enough to hold him back. Nico ground his teeth, hands closing into anxious fists at his sides. “ _Don’t.”_ he repeated.

But Leo was already heaving the lid off, with the help of Jason. It hit the floor with a clang, echoing throughout the chamber, and he felt Nico tense beside him. For a minute he thought maybe the kid’s heart had stopped. Leo and Jason stared into the open crate with equal measures of surprise and confusion on both of their faces.

“Huh.” Was all Leo finally said.

“What is-?”

But before Piper could finish, there was a frightened yell and a head shot up out of the crate- dark skin and wide eyes and a mass of cinnamon curls that fell messily onto _her,_ he realized quickly, shoulders. She looked confused, disoriented- _terrified,_ actually- head twisting this way and that as she glanced hurriedly around the room.

Percy blinked.

“Hazel!” Nico called, jerking easily out of Percy’s slack grasp and running to the girl- Hazel, apparently. All right.

“Nico?” Hazel’s voice was high, scared, as she tried to find the source of his voice.

“Hazel _._ _Hazel,_ hey,” Nico reached her, his voice softening in a way Percy had never heard from him before. He moved slowly, taking her face in his hands, thumb running slowly along her cheek like he couldn’t believe she was real, “It’s alright, it’s okay. Hey, look at me.”

Hazel’s eyes finally focused on his, and her expression softened to the point where she almost looked close to tears.

“Nico,” she said in relief.

Nico smiled- sadly, happily, a bit hopefully. “Yeah,” he nodded, “Yeah, it’s me.”

Her arms- bare, he noticed; she seemed to be dressed in a worn out hospital gown of sorts- came up to wrap around him jerkily, and she buried her head in his chest. Percy felt like he was intruding on something very personal. He had no idea who this person was. Why she had been asleep inside a crate was beyond him, and why she was being hunted down was just as unknown- she was just a kid, maybe a year or two younger than Nico.

“So,” he cleared his throat, breaking the silence everyone else was too stunned to break. “New girlfriend?”

The glare Nico shot him could’ve made a small child cry.

“This is my _sister.”_

More silence. 

“You, my friend,” he managed a few moments later, “have a _lot_ of explaining to do.”

 

 


	3. something i need

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So she’s like…psychic?” Percy had interrupted, ignoring Nico’s glare and ignoring the looks everyone else gave him, “That sounds like something out of a sci-fi.”
> 
> Annabeth had sighed, “You live on a spaceship, dear.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i was moving everything over to my new computer and i found this practically-finished chapter and thought 'huh...' 
> 
> also some of this dialogue is directly from the show bc it's such good dialogue ok

 

When Nico di Angelo was eight years old, he liked playing with old trading cards, the kind that existed way before the war and stuff happened. He liked telling people about them, liked it when people played with him, liked it when Bianca played with him. 

And he had all sorts of cards, see. There were mythical monster cards, Greek mythology cards, something called _baseball_ cards that were really, really old— he’d gotten them for his birthday from his unusually supportive father who had laughed and ruffled his hair when he got excited about it. Bianca smiled at him the way Bianca did. 

(A year and a half later, their father abandoned them in a hotel on a ‘safe’ planet with enough money to sustain them for a while. He didn’t say where he was going or when he would be back. He didn’t even say goodbye).

When he was ten years old, he met Percy Jackson. Percy Jackson had fought in the war and Percy Jackson had very pretty green eyes and very nice hair and also had a very nice girlfriend- who had also fought in the war. But Percy was nice to him- he smiled at him and humored his excited ramblings and never saw him as anything more than a little brother, or something of the sort. When he was ten years old, Percy took them under his wing and they had a home for a little while.

When he was eleven years old, Percy somehow got his hands on a small embarrassing excuse for a spaceship— but he was so _happy_ about it that the size and unstableness didn’t really matter. Percy got his first job- transporting something to a place a few planets over- in which a group of intimidating girls were sent to ‘keep an eye on him’, and Bianca decided to go with them. 

Maybe indefinitely. 

Nico felt betrayed and sort of angry, but Percy Jackson the war hero told him Bianca would be safe and fine under his protection, that Nico would be safe too, here with Annabeth and a man called Grover who Nico honestly liked. 

And for the first time since Nico had met him, Percy Jackson broke a promise. 

The ship had crash-landed. Bianca was caught up in the wreckage, and it collapsed on top of her.

And so an eleven year old Nico yelled and cried and hated and found his way onto a cargo ship, stowed away in the bay, buried under the luggage, and nobody found him. He wondered if they even searched for him.

When he was nearly fifteen years old (fourteen, technically, but he didn’t tell anyone that), he tricked Percy Jackson- who he had run into, by some horrible twist of fate- into coming with him to talk to an informant in exchange for information about his long-dead mother and long-gone father and a possible relative. The informant apparently was not only an informant, but also a mercenary of sorts. He didn’t want to talk- he wanted to turn Percy into the feds- and told Nico next to nothing. Nico helped both of them escape, but the look of betrayal and _mistrust_ on Percy’s face had been enough to make him apologize a hundred times over and run off again before he could screw up anything else.

This time, he was sure that nobody looked for him.

When he was sixteen years old, he found out he had a half-sister. _Hazel Levesque_ was her name. She was one year younger than him and he found her by complete accident- dead mother, and Father had apparently also abandoned her (it seemed like a habit), living on a pretty bad planet and searching for him too.

She brightened up his world, made him happier than he’d been since Bianca died. She encouraged him to follow the career of a doctor (an idea that he’d been thinking and thinking over for a while now, a dream that would never be fulfilled because they were not very accepted) and it somehow suddenly became a thing. 

And she was… _amazing._ He was smart, he could admit that without trying to sound pompous, but she was smarter. And she had- she had _something._ A _gift,_ she said her mother had called it. She could find precious metals in the ground where they logically shouldn’t be, like they were drawn to her. She knew what he was thinking sometimes, before he said it, before he considered saying it. She knew things that she shouldn’t- _couldn’t_ \- know, things that had happened to people she just met. She didn’t say it out loud, said it only to him later when they were alone, because she knew what happened to people like her. 

When he was eighteen years old, he officially became a doctor, officially took the title. Hazel teased him about it, called him _doctor_ even when it was unnecessary, but she was happy for him, and she made him a cake and wrote ‘Congratulations, Doctor’ in icing on the top of it, and they were happy. 

When he was eighteen years old, Hazel was taken away. Just like that- one moment she was there smiling and walking beside him and the next moment: poof, she was gone. 

Gone. Nowhere in sight. 

And he panicked and he searched and he knew who took her and why they did— her _gift,_ it was her gift, and he didn’t know how they found her or what they’d do to her and shit shit he couldn’t do this again, not again, not with Hazel, he couldn’t _loose_ her too. 

When he was twenty years old, he found her. It took him over two years and he hated himself for it because two years- _two years_ \- and he hoped to whatever god was in the sky that she was all right. 

She was, and she wasn’t. She was alive, but barely, and they did _something_ but he didn’t know _what_ and she was shaking and looking at him like she couldn’t believe her pretty golden eyes and she cried and clung to him and they ran.

And they ran and they ran from planet to planet and suddenly they were both fugitives and Hazel couldn’t run anymore and her face was more important, she was more important, so she slept in a crate he found and he ran. 

When he was a few months into his twenty-first year, he was sitting in the living quarters of Percy Jackson’s decked out spaceship with a bunch of strangers staring at him and Hazel asleep in the infirmary. 

And so he (reluctantly) told his story, explained himself- leaving out everything with Bianca and Percy and his father and everything else personal, leaving out everything that happened before he was sixteen (and even then, it was the bare minimum). He told them about how he searched for her and how he found her and left out some of the aspects of her gift, saying that she was incredibly smart and had an affinity for knowing things that no one told her. 

(“So she’s like…psychic?” Percy had interrupted, ignoring Nico’s glare and ignoring the looks everyone else gave him, “That sounds like something out of a sci-fi.”

Annabeth had sighed, “You live on a spaceship, dear.”)

And when he was finished, he reluctantly looked up and prepared for rejection and accusation and disbelief, but what he got were hard looks of understanding and he knew that they believed him. He felt a bit of the anxiety burning in his chest evaporate.

“Are you going to turn us in?” He asked finally, voice smaller than he intended and he internally scowled at himself.  

Percy looked at him for a long time, straight in the eye, and Nico could feel everything that had happened between the two of them resurface and then it was buried deep in the ground as he gave a grim smile and shook his head.

“Not in a million years,” he said, “I wasn’t there for you before, but I sure as hell will be now,”

And a part of Nico believed him. 

 

He stayed awake in the infirmary all night, holding Hazel’s hand and wishing all of this was a dream. She looked so tired, so much older; her hair was longer than he remembered, she was thinner, her hands were softer- she’d always had the slightly calloused yet strangely beautiful hands that come with a variety of odd jobs she took on while he was busy at med school. 

She stirred sometime in the middle of the night- around two or three, probably (he’d gotten good at perfecting his internal clock, knowing what time it was even in the dark)- and he quickly straightened up. 

Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked so _relieved_ for a moment. She reached up slowly and he felt the ghost of her fingertips run across his cheek.

“I thought you weren’t coming for me,” she said quietly, her voice so _weak_ it made him want to cry. 

He smiled sadly instead. “Well, you’re a dummy,” he murmured. 

And she smiled too, and it felt so good to see her smile again, even if it was small and brief. She fisted her hands into his shirt and pulled herself upwards, wrapping her arms around him again and burying her face in his shoulder. 

And Percy wasn’t turning them in and he wouldn’t loose her again and he had no idea what would happen the next day, but for a second there, everything was okay.

 

 


End file.
